Ukraine Reportedly Planned to Paralyze Moscow Airports

Ukraine reportedly planned a large-scale operation involving as many as 1,000 drones a night to shut down Moscow's airports and increase pressure on Vladimir Putin to negotiate an end to the war, according to The Atlantic. The magazine cited two unnamed sources with direct knowledge of the plan.

The operation, codenamed "M&Ms", was reportedly spearheaded by then-Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov and other Ukrainian officials. Swarms of AI-guided drones would have been used to overwhelm Russian air defenses and shut Moscow's airspace to civilian flights for an extended period.

According to one of the sources, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed serious concerns about the risk of a civilian aircraft being hit and passengers or crew being killed or injured. Nevertheless, he allowed preparations to continue for several months.

Officials behind the plan reportedly proposed warning civilian airlines in advance so they could avoid Russian airports. The aim was to persuade international carriers to stop flying to Moscow, increasing pressure on Putin from Russian officials, oligarchs and other wealthy members of the country's elite.

Planning for the operation had reached an advanced stage but was halted in July following Fedorov's dismissal as defense minister.

Zelensky's office has disputed the report. While a spokesperson declined to comment, another presidential official told The Atlantic that the alleged plan to send swarms of AI-guided drones against Moscow's airports was "total nonsense". The official said Ukraine had instead sought to force repeated temporary airport closures through its existing drone attacks.

(mja)